Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 23, 1896

“Enquire, and make search, and ask diligently.”

No. 256. The Sabbath, Baptism, etc.

Is the church of Christ divided? C. E.

The writer of the above question asks it in view of the division on the Sabbath question and the question of baptism among different religious bodies, some persons holding that the seventh day is the Sabbath, others the first day; some persons holding to immersion as baptism, others to sprinkling at the altar. Now it does not matter what church or minister made either or any claim regarding one or both of the above subjects. The only question for the Bible believer to ask is, What does God’s word say? What did Christ live in his life? The answer then is very simple.

1. What day is the Sabbath, not of man or of the church, but of the Lord?—“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day [the rest day], and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11. That this day refers to a definite specific day in the septenary cycle is evident from the great fact that God guarded it by the triweekly miracle of the manna for forty years. See Ex. 16:4, 23-30, 35. That it is the seventh day of the week is shown by the fact that it came just before the first day of the week. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2. Furthermore, the seventh-day Sabbath was kept by our Lord Jesus Christ, our great and only perfect Example. What further testimony do we desire?

2. What is baptism? The word itself comes from the Greek root baptō, defined by Dr. Strong, a Methodist, as follows: “to whelm, i. e., to cover wholly with a fluid.” It is translated dip. The word as found in Matt. 3:6, 13, 16; Rom. 6:4, and everywhere else “baptize” or “baptized” occurs, is baptizō, defined by Dr. Strong as follows: “From a derivative of baptō; to make whelmed, i. e., fully wet,” and is used, he says, of Christian baptism. Liddell and Scott’s Standard Greek Lexicon thus defines the word, “To dip in or under water.” Its use and symbolism are consonant only with the idea of immersion. It symbolizes the great facts of the Gospel, Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. See 1 Cor. 15:1-4. So Paul says again: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Rom. 6:3-5. But what likeness is there in the matter of sprinkling a few drops of water to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? Now the word means dip, immerse. The ancient custom among the early Christians was to immerse. Jesus was baptized (immersed in the Jordan), and came up out of the water after his immersion. Mark 1:9, 10. So also the eunuch. Acts 8:38, 39. Is not this sufficient?

That Christian men will be saved who have not been immersed we have no doubt. They walked in the light they possessed. They had the spirit of obedience. Union, however, comes by worshiping God in both spirit and truth. Yet we should not condemn men but teach truth—the truth of God’s word. Christ’s flock is often torn and scattered, but union of all the true will come by and by. Let it be such a union as God’s word teaches.

No. 257. Keeping under the Body. 1 Cor. 9:27.

Please explain: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Cor. 9:27. C. E.

The body, the flesh, is “sinful,” and in man’s natural state dominated by its lusts and passions (Rom. 6:19-21), and man had no power to release himself from its domination (Rom. 7:18-23); but in Christ Jesus man is set free from this bondage (Rom. 8:2), and the spirit triumphs over the flesh. The body is under, while the spirit is on top, whereas previous to this the spirit was under in bondage while the body was on top, or dominated. Being set free, we are by God’s grace to let not sin “reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Rom. 6:12. Paul says that he kept his body under, as Rotherham renders, “beating my body under, and leading it into servitude,” into captivity in Christ. See 2 Cor. 10:5. He did this by keeping the spiritual nature uppermost, by dwelling in God; and Christ dwelling in him crucified and kept under the body. Study the way he did this in the following: 2 Cor. 6:4-10; Col. 3:1-17.

No. 258. Without Strength. Rom. 5:6.

I would be pleased if you would give me an explanation of Rom. 5:6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” MRS. C. W.

The text simply means that Christ by dying for us met our need. He did not help those who could help themselves, but died for the helpless, the weak, the sinner, the lost, died for the ungodly, that his love thus manifested might win them, that we might have his Spirit or life. See verse 4. This is an ever-present truth with fallen man. Jesus gave himself in the beginning, a Lamb slain in purpose from the foundation of the world; and the Gospel sets him forth before every sinner as crucified in the present for him. See Gal. 3:1.